Moody Gardens Hotel Spa and Convention Center, Galveston

We drove 4 1/2 hours for this disappointment! 3/4 of the attractions were closed and we were charged full price for a 2 day ticket. My husband and I are thankful that we did not bring our two year old son along; he would have been bored to death! The ONLY things open 2 weeks ago were the aquarium and the theater. We wasted 45 minutes on the satanic "Haunted Castle" 3D movie that showed cartoon characters being electrocuted and tortured in acid as the Devil tried to buy a young boy’s soul. I was shocked to see parents allow their children to watch this! At the hotel, our non-smoking room was so full of a smoke smell that my husband had to leave at 1am to get nose spray because my throat and nose had closed. Additionally, the tv in our room and the remote were different brands and would not work together. It took 1 and a half hours to get the remote replaced. Our towels were dirty... nasty dirty with brown smears, not stains, fresh smears on two of them. The valet took 30 minutes to take our car.. we literally had to wait in our car for 30 minutes because there was no one there to take our keys! We could have parked ourselves, walked around the entire attraction area, parked ten other cars and got back to our room and saved our 20 bucks! After leaving our names, cell phone numbers and email address with the desk manager and leaving a direct voice mail with the general manager, we were never contacted back. This was by far one of the absolute worst hotel stays we have ever had and we have stayed in much cheaper (less than the $265 a night) five star hotels 30 times and have never experienced anything like this! I would not recommend anyone stay here. Terrible hotel, terrible attractions, terrible price and the poorest management I have ever seen in a hotel.. EVER! Buyer BEWARE!

My husband and I went the summer of 08 and it was the best honeymoon trip ever for a young couple on a small budget. The hotel pool was awesome-fresh towels, poolside bar (charged drinks to our room and there was no tax so that was a PLUS), hot tub connected- we looved it! We had the 2 days pass and enjoyed every pyramid and activity there was to do. Our king bed overlooked the pyramids, and was so romantic in the evenings. When booking the room, we had told the front desk that it was our honeymoon, and when we arrived we had champagne glasses, fruit basket, and a special note from the manager congratulating us on our marriage--complimentary too. It was the perfect gift from the hotel. I definitely give this hotel a 5 star rating and we definitely plan to come back again! It was definitely worth our money and reminded us of being kids again.

I was scheduled to attend an event at the hotel, the staff messed up the reservation and denied my attendance. I later called to complain but nobody got back to me with any explanation. 5 days later I called in to the sales director, she was very rude and arrogant. I couldn't believe any service industry professional could treat a sustomer in such atrocious manner. definitely do not recommend, especially for corporate accounts.

My husband and I stayed there for our wedding anniversary. We booked the Gift of Christmas Couples Package that included tickets the Gift of Christmas Dinner Show (the food was good, it started late and they waited to start the show until AFTER dinner; the show consisted of local artists singing christmas music) and tickets to the Festival of Lights which was very beautiful. Our room was nice and big with a King bed and a great view of the pyramids. There was a big screen TV and a desk with a chair, standard stuff. We ordered room service and it was good as well. They had a moonwalk for the kids and the pool was heated so we will bring our son with us next year. I would not recommed the dinner show but I would highly recommend the hotel and the festival of lights!

Great place to take the kids! We read a few bad reviews before we left and we aren't sure what people were expecting, but we thought it was great! We got the two day pass and didn't have enough time to do everything. So much to do. The Aquarium was great! Bigger and better than the Dallas Aquarium. Palm Beach was crowded, but we went in prime season (summer) and on a Saturday. We were still able to snag a front row at Palm Beach near the water and the kids loved it. Beers were fairly cheap and we were able to charge them to the room. Convenient. Service was pretty darn good. Teen Spa was perfect for my little girls and the ladies that took care of them were patient and sweet. Activities going on every day and night at the hotel...crafts, bounce house, s'mores, etc....always something to do. Food at the Terrace restaurant was really good! Had a blackened fish dinner and it turned out great! Very kid-centric, but always a place to get a beer for the adults. Swim up bar made it nice too. Dinner on the Colonel left much to be desired. Food wasn't very good and music selection was pretty bad. Next time will probably skip the dinner boat ride. I would definitely recommend taking your family!

We are from Fort Worth and decided to take our first family vacation with our 2 year old to Galveston. We had never been before...it was worth the 5 hour drive!!! Moody Gardens hotel staff was great from the bellmen, to the wait staff at the pool. Very attentive, and always had a smile on their face. This was a GREAT place for our little one, there are playgrounds, great trails for walks and you have free reign of the whole place all day/night. The rooms were clean and comfy. We had a fridge in the room which was great traveling with a two year old so we could have milk, juice and snacks in the room at all times. The Aquarium exibit was fun, not as big as we thought but worth the $15 to get in. We had so much fun that we will make a yearly trip as a family every year. The food at the hotel is $$$ but good. Make a trip to the local grocery Randells and grab yourself drinks and snacks, it is worth saving a few bucks and the mini fridge (almost a half fridge) is big enough!!! The damage from hirricane Ike is still apparent, but doesnt hamper the great time and place it is.

I stayed at Moody Gardens for a couple of nights with my mom and great-aunt a few years ago and it was a wonderful little trip down from Houston. The rainforest and aquarium pyramids were really cool to walk through, pretty time consuming, but in a good way. It wasn't too far from the local favorites my aunt wanted to show us and eat at in the older parts of Galveston and the room service was ok for our dinner in; definitely would recommend the restaurants down by the fishing and shrimping piers in lieu of room service (if they are back up and operational after the hurricane).

this was one of our stops on our first family vacation. we loved is and our kids enjoyed the whole place! the animals were beautiful and the pool is a great place to cool off during the summer! our kids are all under the age of 5 and they loved going and splashing around! even my 8 month old enjoyed herself! the 2 day price was worth it! we will be returning next summer!

We reserved the "romantic rendezvous" package. For $400 we expected a lot more. We can get the same room anywhere else for $69. We did get the cheap champagne and chocolate covered strawberries and jacuzzi, but expected a larger room (being it was supposed to be a suite), plush carpet, nice bedding, nicer furniture (not particle board), and maybe a nice live plant and bouquet of real flowers in the room. The carpet was short pile that was very worn and you could see where it had been spliced and parts replaced. The bathroom had tape on the ceiling where cracks were repaired. Not worth $400.

THIS WAS A GREAT PLACE!! A FEW THINGS NEED TO BE NOTED. GO AFTER 1:00 WHEN ALL THE SCHOOL KIDS HAVE CLEARED OUT SOME EXTREMLEY RUDE!!!! BATHROOMS YOU COULD TELL KIDS HAD BEEN IN THEM. IN THE RAINFORREST SOME TYPE OF MALE CAT HAD SPRAYED AND YOU KNOW HOW BAD CAT SPRAY CAN SMELL EXTREMLEY GROSS!!! THEY NEED TO FIND IT ANOTHER HOME SMALL CAGE AND I CANT EVEN DESCRIBE THE SMELL!!! THE RESTURANT HAD GREAT FOOD AND WELL PRICED BETTER PRICING THEN THE SNACK BAR. AND THANKS TO OUR WONDERFUL WAITRESS KATHY. IF YOU GO ASK FOR HER SHE WAS WONDERFUL!!! HAD A GREAT TIME OVERALL!!